Walter Kirn is an American novelist and the author of nine books, including Up in the Air and Thumbsucker, which have been made into feature films. His most recent is Blood Will Out, a memoir of his friendship with the con artist and murderer Clark Rockefeller. His other books include Mission to America, My Mother’s Bible, The Unbinding, She Needed Me, and My Hard Bargain. His work has appeared in publications including The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine and Book Review, The New Republic, GQ, and Esquire.

Okey Ndibe

Shearing Fellow

Okey Ndibe is a Nigerian novelist, essayist, and political columnist. He is the author of Foreign Gods, Inc., about a Nigerian cab driver in New York who sets out to steal an ancient statue that was taken from his village, which New York Times reviewer Janet Maslin named one of the ten best books of 2014. He is also the author of Arrows of Rain and the co-editor, with Zimbabwean writer Chenjerai Hove, of a collection of essays on African conflicts. He earned his MFA and PhD from University of Massachusetts at Amherst and has taught at Brown University, Bard College, and elsewhere.

Gregg Jones

Kluge Fellow

Pulitzer Prize-finalist foreign correspondent and investigative journalist Gregg Jones is the author of three critically acclaimed nonfiction books: Last Stand at Khe Sanh: The U.S. Marines’ Finest Hour in Vietnam; Honor in the Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines, and the Rise and Fall of America’s Imperial Dream; and Red Revolution: Inside the Philippine Guerrilla Movement. He has reported on the fall of the Taliban and the beginning of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and has covered civil wars, insurgencies, revolutions, and other major events across five continents. His work has appeared in numerous publications around the world, including the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Boston Globe.

2015-16 Shearing Fellow Okey Ndibe

Application & Deadlines

The EXTENDED application deadline for the 2017-18 Bennet Fellowships is November 15, 2016. Mailed materials should postmarked by November 15.